Meeting Re-cap and Plans for the Future

On Nov. 1, 2010 a meeting was held primarily for the purpose of gauging and expressing our opposition to the proposed Residential Drug and Mental Rehab house at 3330 Dally Road, Covington, GA.  Click here for the Walton Tribune article covering the meeting.  While the opposition was almost unanimous, we still face an inevitable fight to prevent this facility from being allowed to operate in our community.

Otis Nixon, the petitioner for the Conditional Use Permit, was present and addressed the group of 50 plus concerned community members.  Mr. Nixon was asked repeatedly to address specific concerns from the group, namely: how many people would be housed at the facility; will convicted criminals be housed there; will they be supervised and how; and what qualifications does Otis Nixon possess that would allow him to operate a facility of this type.  NONE of the questions were answered, other than that the number of people at the location would be eight, even though Mr. Nixon spoke for nearly two hours.

The position of the community has not changed.  WE DO NOT WANT THIS FACILITY HERE!  Many people at the meeting addressed Mr. Nixon directly and told him that he, as an individual home owner and resident, would be welcomed in our community.  However, he was begged by several individuals to NOT put this proposed facility in our community.  Nixon, indicated several times that he was having "a change of heart", but in the end vowed that he would "fight like anyone pushed into a corner".  It is obvious from Mr. Nixon's words that he has no intention of heeding the communities request to reconsider his proposal.

Now is the time for all residents of the area to join together to oppose this proposed facility.  The first step is to educate our friends and neighbors about this facility and our opposition to it.  The second step is to attend the Walton County Planning and Zoning Board meeting on December 2nd at 6:00PM (303 S. Hammond Drive, Monroe, GA).  Regardless of the Planning and Zoning Board's decision, the final battle will be played out at the County Commissioner's meeting on January 4, 2011 (also at 6:00PM at the same address).  This is the forum in which we can show our ELECTED officials that we, VOTING citizens of Walton County, are concerned about our community and that they should be too.

An organized campaign will be taking place in the next four weeks to spread the word with signed petitions and yard signs, as well as continued calls to the county commissioners (specifically Vickie Gassaway, Commissioner for our district and Kevin Little, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners) to voice our growing opposition.  We are asking everyone to stay vigilant and resolved to stopping this facility in our community and the spread of similar facilities in Walton County. 

We welcome comments and/or emails to opposerehabhouse@gmail.com.